NHL Lockout: 10 Cancelled Games We Really Regret Missing

There is always the hope that the NHL will come to its senses and the season will not go up in flames.

The NHL and NHLPA may act in a reasonable and mature fashion, come to an agreement and end the lockout shortly.

They may need another month or more to hammer out their differences.

If they can pick up the schedule in the next month or two, at least a partial season will be played along with the Stanley Cup playoffs.

However, there are a lot of good games that are not being played.

Here's a look at 10 games in the month of November that hockey fans regret missing.

Dallas at New York Rangers, Nov. 1

The Stars are tired of ending up on the outside looking in.

They want to return to the playoffs. They added Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney as free agents in the offseason. Going to New York and playing the Rangers would have been a great test.

Head coach John Tortorella's team is very strong on paper. It was No. 1 in the Eastern Conference a year ago and it added scoring by trading for Rick Nash.

No, we're not saying this game would be a Stanley Cup preview, but it would have been an outstanding early-season game.

Boston at Washington, Nov. 2

The Boston Bruins met the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Bruins were the defending Stanley Cup champions and heavy favorites to beat the Capitals. However, Washington played tough, disciplined hockey and extended the Bruins to the seventh game of their opening-round series.

They pushed the Bruins into overtime of that game and won the series, ending the Bruins' season.

The Bruins would have been looking for at least partial revenge in this game on the Capitals' home ice.

Pittsburgh at Chicago, Nov. 5

The Penguins are a high-scoring and exciting team that has a chance to put big numbers on the scoreboard every time it takes the ice. Fans in Chicago would have relished the opportunity to see Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin take the ice against their beloved Blackhawks.

A meeting with a Stanley Cup-caliber team like Pittsburgh would have told head coach Joel Quenneville quite a bit about the caliber of his team in 2012-13.

Vancouver at Los Angeles, Nov. 8

The Los Angeles Kings dispatched the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the playoffs on their way to winning the first Stanley Cup in their history.

The Kings took the Canucks apart in five games. That loss stung the Canucks badly.

However, the Canucks are still a strong team and they have as good a chance to win their first Stanley Cup as anybody in 2012-13. They would have wanted this game against the Kings badly.

St. Louis at Nashville, Nov. 10

The Blues surged up the ladder last season once they fired Davis Payne and brought in Ken Hitchcock to coach.

They became the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and won a playoff round before they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Kings. The Blues want to pick up where they left off and become legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.

A meeting with the hard-nosed and aggressive Predators in Nashville would give Hitchcock a strong indication of how his team would rise to a challenge this year.

This would have been a great game to see.

Minnesota at Philadelphia, Nov. 13

This is hardly a traditional matchup, but the Minnesota Wild should be one of the more interesting teams in the NHL once the season begins.

A meeting with the Flyers would have been important for this team. After adding Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, the Wild expect to be a playoff team in 2012-13. Going into a tough environment like Philadelphia is a huge test for any up-and-coming team and the Wild would have been challenged.

The Flyers have defensive shortcomings on their roster, so stopping a star like Parise would not have been easy for the home team.

Chicago at Vancouver, Nov. 15

There's something about the Vancouver Canucks that brings out the competitive instincts in a number of teams.

The Blackhawks are one of them. The teams have been frequent playoff foes. When the Blackhawks won the 2010 Stanley Cup, they beat the Canucks along the way.

When the Canucks got to the Stanley Cup finals in 2011, they took a 3-0 lead on the Blackhawks, dropped the next three games and won the seventh in overtime.

This game would have been an early-season war.

Tampa Bay at Los Angeles, Nov. 17

Any time you have a chance to see high-scoring Steven Stamkos play, it's a game worth watching.

When he lines up against the defending Stanley Cup champions, it's a can't-miss game. Stamkos and his laser shot would have been a major test for Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick.

The Kings certainly have the star power with Mike Richards, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter to give the Lightning all they want.

It would have been a great game to stay up late and observe.

New York Rangers at Boston, Nov. 23

This was one of the great rivalries in the NHL and there's a chance that this long-simmering feud could turn white hot this season.

The Rangers are clearly a strong team that has a chance to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup finals, but they will have to beat a number of strong teams. One of those teams could be the Bruins.

This game would have been the Black Friday nationally televised game. Both teams have plenty of pride in the cities they represent and the New York-Boston rivalry is alive and well in all sports.

This game would have lived up to the hype and fans would have been treated to a classic.

San Jose at Pittsburgh, Nov. 29

The Sharks may not have many opportunities left to live up to the hype.

They have been one of the perennial Western Conference favorites, but they have never even made it out of the Western Conference, let alone win the Stanley Cup.

An early-season interconference matchup with the Penguins would be an interesting matchup of styles.

When you get stars like Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau competing against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, it's definitely a game that would have been worth watching.